1. Field
The invention is in the field of earrings of the type having a pin which passes through a hole pierced in the ear of a wearer and is secured by a clutch on the end of the pin.
2. State of the Art
Earrings for use with pierced ears generally have a pin with a decorative end whereby the pin is passed through a hole pierced in an earlobe, so that the decorative end of the pin rests against one side of the earlobe. A clutch is then placed on the pin from the opposite end and slid along the pin until it contacts the other side of the earlobe to comfortably hold the earring in place with the decorative end of the pin contacting one side of the earlobe and the clutch contacting the other side.
Generally, it is not desirable to have the earring dangle loosely in the hole through the ear so it is desirable to maintain the clutch in position along the pin against the earlobe once a comfortably snug fit is obtained. Further, it is desirable to have the clutch resist sliding off the end of the pin in which case the earring usually falls from the ear and is lost. Many earrings in use today utilize clutches having one or more spring members which frictionally engage the pin to resist sliding of the clutch along the pin once the clutch is positioned by the user. However, while the pressure of the spring member or members on the smooth pin resists sliding to some extent, it is not uncommon for the clutch to work loose during wearing.
Many earrings provide grooves in the pin toward the end of the pin to provide additional resistance to movement of the clutch along the pin once the spring member or members reach the groove. This hopefully prevents the clutch from coming off the end of the pin and the earring being lost. In some cases two grooves are provided along the pin, one as a first stop, and the second at the end of the pin as a last attempt to prevent loss of the earring. In such earrings, the grooves are not engaged during normal wearing of the earring. The clutches rely entirely on the frictional sliding resistance provided by the spring members against the pin to maintain their wearing position on the pin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,715 to Huddon, and my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,929, both show clutches wherein a spring member is positioned in a receiving groove during normal wearing of the earring. U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,715 shows two receiving grooves, both of which simultaneously receive opposite, inwardly extending ends of a coil spring used as the spring member when the clutch is in position on the pin. However, such clutch is not adjustable along the pin. The grooves are positioned for a particular size ear, and the earring does not fit comfortably on either larger or smaller ears. This lack of adjustability is a disadvantage of the clutch described, although once in position with the spring ends in the receiving grooves, the clutch does tend to resist sliding movement to a greater degree than most other clutches.
The clutch of my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,929 has a spring member in the form of an inwardly extending end of a coil spring, similar to that shown in Huddon, which engages a single wide groove in the pin. Thus, while the clutch has the same tendency to resist sliding off the pin as the Huddon clutch, because of the width of the receiving groove, the clutch can be adjustably slid to various positions along the groove to adjust for different size ears. However, this adjustment is obtained merely by frictional pressure of the spring member against the smooth bottom of the wide groove and this does not maintain adjusted positions any better than most other types of clutches.
It has been found that with clutches wherein the end of a coil spring is bent inwardly to engage a groove in the pin, it can be difficult to release the clutch because as the pin is pulled outwardly, the spring is also pulled outwardly against the end of the clutch which is usually angled and which tends to force the end of the spring into the groove. Thus, the harder a person pulls to try to release the clutch, the more difficult it is to release the clutch.